Pepe Serna, a native of Corpus Christi who has appeared in hundreds of films and television shows, has a starring role in an independent film that has received quite the attention.
"Man from Reno" is a film directed by David Boyle. Serna said it is the third film he as worked on with Boyle, and may be one of his favorite roles. Starring alongside Steven Seagal's Japanese daughter, Ayako Fujitani, Serna plays a small-town sheriff investigating a series of murders in San Francisco.
The film has won several awards, including Best Narrative at the San Diego Asian Film Festival and the Los Angeles Film Festival. It has been screened in places from Honolulu to Poland, and there are plans to bring the film to Corpus Christi.
Most recently, the film became the Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Feature in the John Cassavettes Award for a film made with a less than $500,000 budget.
Serna, who hosts many workshops in and around the Coastal Bend, also plans to come back and finish a documentary about the motivational work he has done in Corpus Christi.
